The Second Perfect Summer
by J. K. Meowling
Summary: Five years later, the 'updated' Penderwicks family goes to visit Arundel again. What will await them in the garden hedge this summer?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Bonjour, mon amis! I am back with**_**another**_**story idea, so just bear with me. First of all, this is a Penderwicks FF, so if you haven't read**_**The Penderwicks**_**, or**_**The Penderwicks on Gardam Street**_**(Nothing here about Point Mouette, so if you tell me what happens, I'll kill you. ), all by Jeanne Birdsall, a lot of this might not make sense.**

**This story takes place about 5 years after**_**The Penderwicks on Gardam Street**_**. Rosalind is 18, Skye 17, Jane 16 and Batty 10. Their father and Iantha and Ben, who is about 5-6, are all featured in this story, as well as Hound and Asimov. Enjoy!**

***Hold on, my cat just sat on the manuscript.***

_Five years_, Skye thought, as she zipped her suitcase shut. It had been five years since they—"they" being the Penderwick family—had visited Arundel Cottage. Their family was definitely bigger than it had been five years ago. Their father had married Iantha, who brought not only her son, and Skye's stepbrother Ben, but Asimov, the large orange cat, who had taken an unfortunate liking to both her and Hound. Skye brushed cat hair off of her suitcase where Asimov had been lying on it and pulled it off the bed. She looked around the floor of her bedroom, and instead of rolling her suitcase out; she picked it up and delicately stepped over Jane's mess to get to the door. That was one thing that definitely hadn't changed in five years. Skye had gotten so irritated with the mess when she came home after a weekend at Genevieve's last fall that she had volunteered to clean Jane's side of the room herself, but Jane wouldn't let her. Skye poked her head back in from the hallway. Jane was sitting at her violet and mahogany desk, writing feverishly in a brand-new blue notebook, her suitcase sitting half-packed on the floor.

"Jane, hurry up! We're leaving for Arundel in less than an hour and you're not even packed yet!" Skye exclaimed.

Jane looked up with the stars of inspiration shining in her eyes. "Give me a minute, Skye. I've come up with a new idea—"

"—for a Sabrina Starr book, okay, whatever. Don't blame me when we leave without you," Skye finished as she walked down the stairs, but Jane wasn't listening.

A visit to Arundel! It was luck fit for leprechauns, a fantasy fit for fairies, Jane had shouted when the notice arrived. She was growing a bit old for fairies, but as a last crack at her childhood, she decided to write a Sabrina Starr book in which some elemental faeries and magick creatures played a big part. Jeffrey's mother's gardens were the perfect inspiration for the setting of where Sabrina Starr would fall prey to the tiny, evil goblins. Jane scratched down a few more notes and closed the notebook, then turned to her messy suitcase. What should she pack? She had already put in five books, not to mention two notebooks—one for writing, the other for sketching—and her toothbrush and toothpaste. She threw in some more clothes and toiletries, then zipped the suitcase shut. Jane then reached under her bed and pulled out Dexter, their soccer ball that had been christened after Jeffery's horrible stepfather. She managed to pull her suitcase through the abyss and downstairs into the kitchen, where Skye and Batty were sitting and eating breakfast. Hound was galumphing around the kitchen and eating between sniffing Ben's high chair, where Iantha was feeding him breakfast.

"Good morning, Jane. Your father's out packing the car, you can take your suitcase out," Iantha said. "And Rosalind is really sure she can't come?"

"Yeah," Jane sighed. Rosalind had gone off to college last September and couldn't afford to miss any time now that her finals were coming up. Jane grabbed a granola bar and a juice box and pulled her suitcase out the front door.

"Hi, Daddy!" Jane called brightly, pulling her suitcase up to the back of the car.

"Hey, Jane-O," Mr. Penderwick grunted as he pushed a suitcase to the far side of the trunk, which now had more than enough room for Hound and Asimov.

"I've started a new Sabrina Starr book," she said, as her father stepped back and surveyed his Tetris-like packing.

"Fantastic. I can't wait to read it," he said. They walked back into the house, where Iantha was carrying Ben out to his car seat and Skye was cramming her blonde hair under her camouflage hat. Batty was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Batty?" Jane asked as she put her breakfast into a plastic bag.

"Out back, taking a last look at the backyard with Hound," Iantha answered as she returned for a moment to collect Asimov. "Could you go get her while we finish packing?"

Jane nodded and walked out back. Batty was sitting near the hedge that blocked their house and Iantha's old house.

"Hey Battikins. Come on, it's time to go," Jane called. Hound bounced up from where he had been lying, as did Batty, and they ran up to Jane.

"Got all of your stuffed animals?"

"Yup. And Yaz," Batty replied. "Read the letter again, Jane, please," Batty asked, holding it up.

Batty loved it when Jane read. Not as much as Rosalind, but Jane had something her father called "character."

Batty sat on the back steps with Hound as Jane struck a pose.

"Dear Rosalind, Skye, Jane, Batty, Hound, Mr. and Mrs. Penderwick, Ben and Asimov,

How have you been? It's been dreadfully lonesome for a while. Mother and Dexter have decided to vacation in Majorca this summer, and one can only spend so much time with school friends. Therefore—"Jane paused fantastically here,"—I cordially invite you to spend a month at Arundel Cottage, no rent required…or at least until Mother returns. Please be down by June 5th at the earliest and latest.

Sincerely, Jeffrey Tifton"

Batty clapped and Hound barked jovially as Jane bowed with exaggerated delight.

"Jane! Batty! Time to go!" Iantha called. Jane grabbed her breakfast and the letter, and the girls and dog raced through the house to the front door, where their father was waiting with the trunk open for Hound. They all climbed into the car, pulled out of the driveway, and were on their way to what they thought was to be the second perfect summer.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Continuation! I'm not sure where I'm going to take this story, but the one definite detail I have is that Jeffrey has an iguana he named Jeremy. Feel free to anticipate that. Also, cliffhangers await you!**

"It's a good thing you ditched the wings, but I don't think this is much of an improvement," Skye grumbled. The car seats were in the second row of the car, behind Mr. and Mrs. Penderwick, because there wasn;t quite enough room in the last row, what with 20% more luggage. Unfortunately, Batty kept asking either Jane or Skye (depending on if Jane was doing something) how Hound and Asimov were. Hound always barked when Batty said his name, and Asimov was—amazingly—asleep. Iantha managed to read the directions a bit more smoothly than they had last time, and in time, through Skye's complaints and Jane's bouts of brilliance and Batty's questions and Ben's laughter, they made it back to Arundel. Even their father knew the way back to the cottage and they pulled in the driveway.

"It's exquisite!" Iantha cried when she got out of the car. As soon as everyone was out of the car, they saw Jeffrey jogging through the trees. He didn't make it very far before three girls jumped on him and attacked him with hugs, screaming jovial hellos.

"Oh Jeffrey, we've missed you so much!" Batty said.

"Your letters aren't nearly as great as seeing you," Jane cried.

Skye thought saying something else would just be redundant, so she just hugged him tighter, and when they all pulled away, she smiled and said, "Hey. Two-on-one later?"

"That sounds enthralling, but you need to unpack the car first," their father called, as he and Iantha pulled suitcases and boxes of food out of the car while Ben and Hound cavorted in the wildflowers in the front. Jeffrey, Skye, Jane and Batty ran over to help, and in due time everything was inside. The girls staked claim on their old bedrooms while Mr. Penderwick and Iantha had taken his old study with Ben. At last, after clothes and toiletries were put away and food was stored in the cupboard and books were piled on nightstands, Jane and Skye went to join Jeffery for soccer.

Jeffrey had gotten a new blue soccer ball from his uncle last year, so with Dexter and the unchristened blue ball, they started two-on-one.

Being on the high school soccer team had not worsened Skye or Jane's skills. In fact, it had improved them greatly. Starting with Jeffery in the middle, the girls attacked the balls with new vigor. Jane had bid all of her different façades (Mick Hart and the Aztec Gods, for example) goodbye, so there would be a lack of shouting in this game. Eventually, the ball whizzed past Skye and Jeffrey dove after it like a lifeline. Skye faced him and began the second round. She managed to stop Dexter from going to Jane with a textbook foot trap. Skye and Jeffery were now a determined team. Jane had a difficult time finding a chink in their armour, but she jogged around a tree and stuck her foot out, managing to stop the blue ball from Jeffrey before it even reached him. And so it went on for the rest of the afternoon, until the three teens were breathless and sweating and happy, huge grins on their faces.

"That," Skye said breathlessly as they made their way back to the cottage," Was brilliant."

"A game fit for the best arena and the trophy with the most pulchritude," Jane commented. Jeffrey grunted his agreement, but he didn't seem as happy. "Jeffrey, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just—." He paused, looking up. The girls were staring at him, Jane's eyes full of fear, Skye's of dread.

"Jeffrey! Tell us!" Jane cried!

"Well, I've been accepted to this fantastic arts college next year, and if I'm lucky I can get a job out there."

"Well, where's out there?" Skye asked.

"California," Jeffrey murmured. "Which means that this might be my last summer here for a while, and I was just thinking about how much I'm going to miss this place, and you guys," he finished.

"Oh, Jeffrey," Jane cried again, hugging him. Skye hugged him too, for good measure. "It's okay. We'll make this the best summer ever, even better than last time."

"Okay." Jeffrey smiled weakly.

"Oh for Pete's sakes, Jeffrey, smile! The end of summer isn't here yet!" Skye said, punching him on the arm. He punched her back and grinned. They walked up the porch steps, peering at each other in the dim evening light.

"See you tomorrow?" Jane called as Jeffrey hopped down the porch steps.

"Do or die," Jeffrey called back, as Skye added it. They waved goodbye and watched until Jeffrey was out of sight.

Jane went inside, but Skye stayed out, watching the fireflies blink. With the looming fear of Jeffrey going to California, she didn't have the heart to tell him that she was going to and engineering school next year. A very nice engineer college on a scholarship.

In Arkansas.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: SUMMER!...the biggest excuse for why I should be posting MORE updates and yet end up posting LESS…*sigh* Also, I finally read Point Mouette! :D **

…**Yeah, that was written in June, after my LAST update! Aagh! School has started, so I'm not even going to get started on that. Thanks for all the encouragement to continue updating! I'm trying my best, guys!**

The next morning the Penderwicks sat eating fresh blueberry pancakes cooked up by Rosalind.

"I must say, Rosy, these pancakes are excellent," her father remarked.

"Pancakes fit for princes!"Jane mumbled through a mouthful of syrup.

"So, what are your plans for today, girls?" Iantha asked.

"Hound and I are going to go see Cagney, right Rosalind?" Batty asked. Hound barked in agreement.

"Sure, honey, we can go see Cagney and the rabbits," Rosalind agreed.

"I'm going to see if I can spend the day in Jeffrey's mother's gardens as research for my new book," Jane continued.

"Where is Jeffrey? He said he's be here by now," Skye muttered, getting up and peering out the front window. She pulled open the blue curtains and saw a familiar sandy brown head bobbing in between the trees.

"Jane! Jeffrey's here!" she shrieked. "Let's—"

"At least invite him in for pancakes before you go barging off," Rosalind said, standing up and going over to the stove.

Jeffrey didn't even get a chance to knock on the door. Skye had already yanked it open with vigor. "Jeffrey! Hello!"

"Hi, Skye!" Jeffery said. He paused. "What's that smell?"

"Fresh blueberry pancakes," Rosalind intoned. "You want some?"

"I already had breakfast…but…sure, a few can't hurt, "Jeffery replied.

"Nope! No time for that!" shouted Jane, who lost her hospitality at the thought of writing her book, "WAIT FOR ME!" she shrieked to Skye as she raced upstairs to get her notebook and pencil. By the time she returned, though, Jeffery was sitting with the rest of the family eating pancakes and having a discussion with Skye about quarks.

"There you are, Jane! Come on!" Skye stood up and raced to the door, quickly followed by Jeffery who called a thank you to Rosalind as Jane tailed behind him.

Mr. Penderwick stood up to close the door behind the shrieking teenagers. "Well, I'm sure they'll be having fun today," he sighed, smiling.

Once they were outside, they had an impromptu race to the statue of the man holding the thunderbolt. No one won, because when they got the hedge tunnel all three of the children tried to cram into it at once, which ended with all of them tangled together, laughing. If he wanted to have fun, these were the best people to do it with, Jeffery thought.

"That was awesome," Skye remarked, giggling. "It's been a while since I've had a good race with anyone other than Pearson! He runs like…like a gnome!"

Gnomes! "Jeffery, what do you think is the most magical place in your mother's garden? I'm working on a new edition of Sabrina Starr and it involves ancient faerie magic. I was hoping I could spend a few hours in your mother's garden to get some inspiration?" Jane said, scarcely taking a breath.

"I'm not sure. The fountain would be my first thought, but maybe by some of the more interesting plants, like the tiger lilies and Japanese knotweed?" Jeffery suggested. "Here, I'll show you."

They climbed through the hedge, around the fountain and off through a side gate. There was a tall hedge around it, and inside there were squares of tiger lilies and Japanese knotweed. It all looked very magical indeed. There was even a wooden bench with black brass side fixtures.

"If you want to come over in the evening, I can turn on these little lights," Jeffery gestured to a string of fairy lights strung across the top corners of the hedge.

"Oh, Jeffery, it's perfect!" Jane cried, hugging him. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some writing done…" Jane drifted over to the bench.

"We need to leave her alone now," Skye hissed to Jeffery, pulling his shirtsleeve and heading towards the gate. "See you at lunch, Jane."

Jane didn't reply.

Skye and Jeffery went back to the hedge. They sat facing each other, knees tucked in. The tunnel had gotten bigger and smaller at the same time, Skye noted.

"I have an idea. How about we take a minute and reflect upon how each of us has changed?" Jeffery suggested. Skye shrugged, and began to look over Jeffery.

Jeffery had already started to notice Skye, but he wanted to buy himself some time to rearrange his thoughts and give an excuse, to both Skye and himself, for staring.

Jeffery had definitely gotten taller, Skye noted. His hair had gotten lighter—or was it darker? There were still freckles on his slightly-less-rounded face. _I'll have to ask him what training he's done_, Skye added, noting his more muscular arms and legs.

Skye's hair had gotten a lot longer since he had last seen her. It was silkier and a little bit darker. Her blue eyes were as piercing as ever, and speaking of piercing, so were her ears. She still wore dark colours. She was still as agile and limber as ever. But something else changed in Skye, Jeffery pondered. Maybe she had gotten more mature in the past five years.

"Time's up, perv. You've stared long enough," Skye cracked, smiling. Jeffery missed that smile.

"Have you been doing any kind of training?" Skye asked.

"I run, and I've lifted a few weights," Jeffery replied modestly. "What have you been up to?"

"Well, I've been taking AP Classes in school—you know, for college credits—and I made it onto the high school soccer team. With Jane, of course. How about you, how are your Conservatory classes going?"

"They're fantastic. I've been taking more every year, and I've learned the viola as well. I've been to a bunch of shows with school and…oh yeah! I got a new iguana! His name is Jeremy! Want to come meet him?" Jeffery replied, his eyes bright.

"Um…sure," Skye said, but before she could think she was whisked up and out of the tunnel, sprinting towards Jeffery's house. Instead of walking through the house, they climbed up the rope ladder.

Jeffery's room had changed as well. Skye noticed the viola case and music stand next to the upright, as well as lots of posters from shows and of famous soccer players. She was comforted by the fact that she had some of the same ones. Immediately, she also noticed the large iguana tank that dominated the corner of the room.

"Here we are," Jeffery said, lifting the lid and picking up the large lizard. "Want to hold him?"

"I guess so," Skye said. Jeffery carefully laid the iguana into her arms. It was heavy for a lizard—iguana—Skye thought, and warm. "Neat." She stroked the side of its head with her thumb, and it closed its eyes contently.

Eventually she returned Jeremy to his cage. Skye stood with Jeffery in his room, feeling awkward. Here was one of her best friends in the world, she hadn't seen him for five years, and she had nothing to say! Skye casually checked her watch and remarked, "We'd better go get Jane. It's almost time for lunch."

Jeffery nodded, and on their way out the window and across the garden, he reveled in the fact that standing alone with Skye was the best moment he'd had all day.


End file.
